Numerous apparatus have been proposed for intubation of a patient with an endotracheal tube such as the Joseph F. Smiddy U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,222 which employs fiber optics and is introduced by way of the nasopharynx. The endotracheal tube may in some instances be passed alongside the metal laryngoscope where one is available and in use but such conditions are not always available as by way of example at the scene of an auto accident.
Other apparatus for entering body cavities are U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,876 to Barchilon; U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,358 to Emerson which do not provide simple structure for controlling curvature to permit rapid intubation and a balloon structure to guard against pulmonary aspiration.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,071,161 and 3,162,214 to Ulrich while teaching flexible tube structures do not teach simple throwaway tubes of the endotracheal type which may be used by paramedics in emergency field conditions and which once inserted and the airway established may be left in position even when the patient arrives at the emergency room or operating room of a hospital.